Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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18 I 9 .L 8 H 11 r 11 ll r fl these questions with group rank it was found that Dean's-list men wrote least often, yet were inclined to have a steady, while the most eager correspondents were in Group IV enjoying many friends. As to the actual amorous status ol' the Class, the majority of '48 men did not take love too seriously in their lfreshman year. Whereas, according to the poll, two were married, eleven engaged, and l5'Z, thought they were in love, 57'K, lllttlllit met her yet. l urthermore, l3'Z, were com- pletely inclifferent, and a disillusioned 5'Z, had been Hloused up. A closely 1'elated question asked when '48 men expected to marry. UNK, believed they would be entangled within five years after graduation, and 25'X, within one year. Yet l3'Z9 thought it would take more than a decade, and WK, stated a firm preference for celibacy. One misogynist declared vehemently, I hate women! I hate women! I hate women! The Class median was about 3M years, although a number did not give specific answers, merely writing, That depends on the little woman, or I don't go by timetables. The questions which were most fully answered we1'e those concerning the College and its treatment of the students. -l3'Zp of the Class considered course work the most beneficial aspect of their college ex- Do you frequently write to girls? How often do you drink? perience, MW, marked general social life. ldxtracurrieular activities were supported by l0'Z,, athletics by 5fz,. Several felt their contacts with Radcliffe had been most broadening, a few wrote, Being on my own. One man, however, declared that thus far college has been a complete waste of time and money. The amount ol' interest the College took in the personal and social adjustment of Freshmen was approved hy 65'Z, ol' the Class. 29W thought it should have taken more interest, while only WZ, wanted less interest. The College's policy was most strongly supported by public school men, 75',7Q of whom favored the present system. A greater proportion of private day school graduates than others wanted to see a change, 35'Zi of them advocating more interest. One of the C'ollege's fondest in- stitutions'-l reshman advisers-was se- verely criticized by '-18. 7l'Z, of the C'lass had seen their advisers not oftener than twice a term, and only QW, saw them more

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Freshvnan Red Book 17 vard institution--the pin- ball machine-seems to have fallen out of favor. Unlike pre-war Classes, the majori- ty of whose members con- sidered themselves sharpics at the game, only 972, of the Class of '48 were self-es- teemed experts, 7305 dis- claiming any talent at all. A great many conside1'ed it a foul and foolish waste ol' time, money and energy, and one man wrote, The machine is indicative of the media through which capi- talism disperses its wealth. The subject of girls, love, and so forth brought seine unusual replies. The Class's model girl is from Wellesley College, has plenty of person- ality, beauty, and figure, and usually allows up to Hfteen dollars to be spent on her dur- ing an evening. '48 men were overwhelm- ingly in favor of dating college girls, 74'Z, preferring them to high school girls CSVZDD, working girls CSKZQ, or debutantes 15749. The remaining MZ, expressed various rather uncommon choices. One man wrote, If they're friendly does it matter? and an- other said, Any girl that goes out with me is a working girl. No girls' college was an outstanding favorite, though Wellesley, preferred by 29fZ, of the Class, was given the largest support. icfz, selected Radcliife, an amaz- ing gain due to the war over 1942 when the Annex ranked next to Kentucky State Normal. Next came Smith QWKQ, Pine Manor Q-l.1'Z,j,-Simmons Q3.5'Z,j, Vassar Q2.9fZJ, and Yale C2.5f72,D. One man was satisfied with any good, passionate south- ern school. 15fZ, selected various small colleges apparently attended by their one- and-only, and 182, expressed no preference at all. One of the latter protested, I go out with a girl, not a particular institution. To the Class as a whole, personality How could Harvard education be improved? was the most important requisite for a girl, although a number of men quixotically -checked personality, face, and figure. Personality SXSW, Face IWZ, Chassis 15'Z, Moral Liberalism l2'Z, Brains SW, Family 5'Z, Availability WZ, Un the average '48 men went out with girls once a month, though l0'Z, never had a date at all. 42'Z, of the Class usually went dancing, 22W to the movies, l5'Z, necking, and WZ, to a night club. Necking, it seems, was the usual climax of a trip to the movies, since a su1'prising number of men checked both of these items. The Class averaged a 853 loss on an average date, although some went as high as 3510. One man stated, The girls I date must take me for what I am, and I'm a spend- thrift. He had had only one date during his Freshman year. On a heavy date the average outlay was about 5Hil2, though 27'Z9 spent 3515, and HW, over 3lli20. While 1292, never wrote to girls at all, 35'K, wrote frequently, and 23'Z, replied whenever she wrote. 60fZ, of the Class tended to date the same girl, 4L0fZ, pre- ferred to play the field. In correlating

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l'l'7'l!SlLIIlCl,Il, Had Book I9 than l'our times. 50'Z, thought they gave some helpful suggestions regarding course sehedules, but 37'Z, considered they re- ceived nothing more profitable from them than their signatures. Only l2'Z, felt that their relations with their advisers eould constitute a friendship. No question provoked a more inter- esting response than the one which asked, If you had the power, what would you do to improve the quality of education at llarvard? This aroused a wide range of comments on all conceivable themes, yet eertain points were brought up over and over again. The most prevalent suggestion -appearing on almost IOIZ, of the pollsy- was for an improvement in the quality of the section men, particularly in Math A and English A. Complaints against the food and the Freshman advisers were numerous and voeiferous. Below we present some of the more interesting and unusual eomments to show the diversity of the ideas considered. More rigorous athletie program. Inerease number of survey eourses. Plaee more contemporary novels in Widener. Provide easier ways to meet girls than at deb parties. Permit more young men with fresh ideas to get to the aeademie top. More compassionate deans. Compulsory study of fine arts. I Make greater distribution compulsory dur- ing the Freslinian year. lnerease the pay of instruetors. . Introduce more thinking, less memorizing in elementary eourses. Inerease time spent in elassroom, deerease amount of homework. Make possible greater intereourse between students and faculty. Stabilize Boston weather. llave examinations and grades only for those who want them. llave more personalized instruetion with smaller elasses and lower big, unwieldy leetures. Put ltadelilfe baek in ltadeliffe. Abandon the dietum for professors of 'fpublish or die. Give more ererlit for daily work, less for exams. Move out of Boston and vicinity. Promote more college spirit. Make attendance of elasses eompulsory. It would take a 1000-page treatise Cbanned in llostonj to handle this adequately. llave less red tape. No suggestions. I, like Elsie, am content. Steal the endowment. Improve the text books. Many seeond-rate books are being used merely because they were writ- ten by llarvard professors. Seleet professors more on their ability to team-li and less on their ponderous braln-power. What do you look for most in a date?